2022 January - Day 02 - Panama City - Miraflores Locks and Panama Temple

 We were quite tired last night after eating a late dinner at the TGI Fridays restaurant.  So it was not surprising that crashed hard and then woke up later than normal (8 AM).  We had a lazy day pretty much.  The problem with our hotel’s location is that there are no food options nearby other than the TGI Fridays.  So after getting up, we got dressed and went for a walk to see if we can find something to eat.  Well, we ended up walking on a pretty busy (and dirty) street.  We passed under the freeway that leads to the American Bridge, one of three that cross the Panama Canal.  We did find a ‘Super Mercado’…which was not so ‘super’…that had some basic supplies.  We bought a few things that we could consume which we did at a closed museum (‘Museo Libertad’) that was on our way.  It is warm and pretty humid here.  It is the warm time of the year for them (and for us!).  

After getting showered and ready for the day, I made a reservation to go to Miraflores Locks where one can watch ships go through the Panama Canal locks that lower and raise ships from the lake that the boats pass through and the seas (either Caribbean or Pacific).   We are on the pacific side of course.  But to get to the Caribbean…it is only 50 miles away.

The Miraflores Locks was pretty amazing.  We took an Uber to the locks which are about a 10 minute drive from our hotel.  Unfortunately the museum and theaters were closed, yet you could pack people up (outside) on the 4th floor to watch the locks work.  I just scratch my head.  Nonetheless, it was amazing to watch a ship be led through the locks and see the boat be lowered from one level to another and then head out to the Pacific Ocean.  The engineering is amazing.  We were able to watch a ship from start to finish go through the locks.  And I swear, they only have about 3 feet on each side.  Little tractor like machines are cabled to the ship and use a track system to pull the ships through.  We were there for about an hour or so watching the process unfold.

The previous Uber driver gave us his telephone number and asked us to text him to see if he was in the area.   We talked to him about our temples and that we needed a ride to the temple.  At the locks, on the 4th floor, you could see the temple spire with angel Moroni a top.  It was not far.  Anyway, Melvin, our Uber driver did return and take us there.  The temple, as are all temples, is beautiful.  Denise has an amazing picture of it that I’ll share below.  The President and his wife greeted us.  They are from Midway, Utah.  They have been here through the pandemic although they were ‘evacuated’ out on one of the last planes out of Panamá before they closed the borders.  I guess missionaries went out in military planes.  President Smith and his wife were home for 11 months before returning and re-opening the temple here.  Our session was at 4:30 PM.  We arrived around 3:30 PM and walked around and talked to some of the folks here.  They have a nice place here where people can stay if they are doing temple work and have come from far.  Anyway, going to  our temples is always a highlight when traveling and they are available to us.

After our temple session, we hailed another Uber and went to the Albrook Mall to find some food.  President Smith and his wife recommended Paul’s, a restaurant in the mall.  While driving there we mentioned to our driver that we’d like to find a SuperMercado to buy some groceries.  I think I made his day as there was a SuperMercado at the very far end of the mall.  So he whipped us over there and dropped us off.  Unfortunately, it was a BIG mall and we had to do some hiking and discovery to find Paul’s.  But we found it after stopping a few innocent bystanders and asking them if they knew where it was.  It really was a bakery.  But, it also had a nice menu of many nice things.  Not cheap.  Not Panamanian food.  But good nonetheless.  I had a nice sandwich on great bread and Denise had a yummy pasta.  The sauce was divine.

After dinner, we meandered back through the mall to the SuperMercado where we spent 30 minutes wondering what to buy for our breakfasts the next few days.  We always end up with chocolate milk, some juice and PASTERIES.  I think we have enough now to get us by for a while.  It better be enough as Denise says she is not going back to the SuperMercado.

It has been a very nice day.  Tomorrow, I think we’re going to lounge by the pools and then head into ‘Casco Viejo’…the old Spanish quarter in downtown Panama and do a self walking tour.  We’ll eat down there too then come back to our hotel.  That’s the plan.    Hasta luego entonces!

Pictures:

This is the path we took on our walk out of our hotel.  We walked for maybe 30 minutes max to get to a little mercado where we bought a few things.

This is us with a picture of the boat going through the locks.  It is almost out and into the Pacific Ocean at this point.  The boat goes through two points where the water recedes and the boat lowers until it is level with the ocean.

We stopped at a museum where we ate our ‘sweet bread’ and I drank some chocolate milk.

Us with the Panama City Temple behind us….

This is why I’m glad I’m using Uber to get around here.  There are man holes all over that don’t have tops on them.  If your car hit one of those you’d lose your front end!  I’m always amazed by such stuff.  Pretty dangerous it is also.

Me waiting to get into my room.  The lady that was cleaning rooms asked if we wanted to have our room cleaned.  So we let here and just waited outside.  We eventually returned while she was there and went out on our balcony.

Miraflores Locks….the main station is behind us and you can see the locks behind us with high water in one (behind me) and low water (behind Denise).  Eventually the low one rises while the high one lowers until they are equal.  Then the boat passes.  They do this twice.

The welcome sigh a Miraflores Locks.

This is our hotel where we are staying.  The guy in the road is re-painting arrows that direct traffic.

Isn’t this a beautiful evening picture of the temple after we came out and having completed a temple session there?!?!  Denise got a great picture.

The lock is lowering when we took this picture.  To the far left, this lock is raising the water.  Eventually the two doors open and the boat is pulled through.

In this picture you can see how close the boat is to each side.  You can also see the tractors at the front and at the rear that are pulling the boat through.  They are almost done and the boat is almost launched into the Pacific Ocean bay here.

Hasta la vista boat!  It is off on its journey in the Pacific.  This boat is transporting cars from Europe apparently.  That is what I overheard a Guide tell someone.

Sorry that these pictures are out of sequence…it takes too much time to arrange them.  Anyway, this is when the boat is beginning its journey through the locks and when it is at its highest point.  Anyway…it was really cool to watch this!

The placemat at Paul’s restaurant.  The food was yummy but my companion, mask and all, was better!